David and Louise Turpin were arrested on Sunday on suspicion of torture and child endangerment. A court appearance is set for Thursday.

Thirteen siblings were rescued by police after a number of them were found chained to beds in “foul-smelling surroundings”.

Advertising

The 17-year-old girl called police after escaping from the home where she and her 12 brothers and sisters were locked up, some so malnourished officers at first believed all were children even though seven are adults.

The girl, who was so small officers initially believed she was only 10, called 911 and was met by police who interviewed her and then went to the family home in Perris, about 70 miles south-east of Los Angeles.

They found several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in the dark, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The children, ages two to 29, “appeared to be malnourished and very dirty,” according to officers who arrested the parents. Neighbours said they were stunned by the arrests. Andrew Santillan, who lives around the corner, heard about the case from a friend.

“I had no idea this was going on,” he told the Press-Enterprise of Riverside. “I didn’t know there were kids in the house.”

Other neighbours described the family as intensely private.

A few years ago, Robert Perkins said he and his mother saw a few family members constructing a Nativity scene in the Turpins’ front yard. Mr Perkins said he complimented them on it.

“They didn’t say a word,” he said.

The Turpins filed for bankruptcy in 2011, stating in court documents they owed between 100,000 dollars (£72,500) and 500,000 dollars (£362,000), The New York Times reported.

At that time, Turpin worked as an engineer at Northrop Grumman and earned 140,000 dollars (£100,000) annually and his wife was a homemaker, records showed.

Their bankruptcy lawyer, Ivan Trahan, told the Times he never met the children but the couple “spoke about them highly.”

“We remember them as a very nice couple,” Mr Trahan said, adding that Louise Turpin told him the family loved Disneyland and visited often.